IYC dares Buhari to probe OBJ

The Ijaw Youth Council has said that President Muhammadu Buhari should include former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration in the ongoing probe of the past civilian administrations if he is really serious about investigating the ugly past of the country.
It maintained that a genuine probe ought not to exempt the Obasanjo administration, but rather concentrate on it, stressing that the former leader failed to procure arms and ammunition for the military in spite of the huge funds appropriated for defence under him.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the president IYC, Udengs Eradiri, stated that the probe would have made more sense if it had included the eight years of the Obasanjo administration instead of restricting it to the tenures of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan.
“We find it pertinent to react to recent media reports that our dear President, Muhammadu Buhari, has ordered a probe of weapon procurement for the military from 2007 to date.
“While we are not against any effort of the President to investigate previous administrations and indeed take steps against the scourge of corruption in the society, we hereby state without equivocation that the period covered by this probe is suspect.
“It would have made a lot of sense for somebody, who is genuinely interested in revisiting alleged cases of malfeasance, which had held our nation back, to either commence such an investigation from 1960 when the country became independent or from 1999 when Nigeria returned to democracy after years of military dictatorship”, he said.

Read also: Ijaw youths tackle OBJ

Eradiri argued that Boko Haram insurgency which is tormenting the country now would have long been dealt with in its early stages if the government of Obasanjo had equipped the military to carry out their statutory responsibility of securing the country.
“In fact, if there is somebody that should be probed, it should be Chief Obasanjo, who lacked foresight and failed in the critical job to adequately arm our military, in spite of the huge funds appropriated for defence under him. If he had done so, the menace of Boko Haram would have long been dealt with in the early stages. It took the administration of Goodluck Jonathan to buy the weapons we need,” Eradiri said.
He added that the plan to exempt Obasanjo administration in the probe would amount to unfairness to the other ones which are now been probed.
Besides, the IYC leader stated, the action would also be regarded as a reward for the role ex-President Obasajo played in the last election.
“We hold that this is unfair and that the tenure of Chief Obasanjo is being exempted because of the role he played in Buhari emergence as president” he said.

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